Speed TV to air Audi documentary

Le Mans race pic produced by Intersports and NFL Films

Speed TV will air Audi’s documentary “Truth in 24 II: Every Second Counts,” May 5 before releasing the film about the grueling 24-hour Le Mans race on Apple’s iTunes for free.

Film, written and helmed by Rob Gehring, and produced by Intersports and NFL Films, revisits Audi Sports’ racing team as it tries to win its 10th Le Mans race in 13 years but finds itself having to beat longtime rival Peugeot with only one car after two of its teams are taken out in crashes.

Jason Statham once again narrates the pic, as he did the first, which followed the 2008 team. This year, Audi enters the race with a new car powered by its e-tron hybrid technology. But it won’t face off against Peugeot, given that the French automaker pulled out of the race in January. It may find a new rival in Toyota, which is coming into the Le Mans for the first time with its own hybrid-powered race car.

Once the sequel airs on Speed TV, Audi will make the docu available in mid-May in HD on iTunes as a free download and through the automaker’s website.

The first “Truth in 24″ was released in 2009, and premiered at the AFI Fest and later aired on ESPN, ESPN 2 and the Speed Channel.

In 2010, Audi produced “Truth in Motion,” a documentary about the U.S. Olympic ski team, timed with the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, that aired on NBC, USA Network and Universal Sports Network before becoming available on iTunes.

Automaker premiered the pic Thursday at a screening and party at downtown Los Angeles’ Vibiana, with winning drivers Andre Lotterer, Benoît Treluyer and Marcel Fassler in attendance.

When asked by Audi of America’s chief marketing officer Scott Keogh, during a Q&A, if the drivers preferred racing or being movie stars, “I know my talents and I think I’ll stay with racing,” Fassler said. But “it was nice to relive this moment through the film” because “when you’re driving you don’t get to see everything that’s going on.”